The invention relates to structural elements as well as sets of structural elements or respectively tiles with geometrically defined circumferences which will be in the following also referred to simply as “tiles”, as well as to surface patterns composed of such structural elements or respectively tiles. The invention also relates to applications of these sets of structural elements in tilings, puzzles, placement games, inlays, fabric patterns and jewelry.
Several sets of tiles with geometrically defined circumferences are known. Many of these sets of tiles can tessellate the plane. Some more recent ones have been described in Spektrum der Wissenschaft, January 2000, page 106 f. Such tile sets cover the plane either periodically or non-periodically.
Several puzzles use tile sets with geometrically defined structural elements, so the well-known Tangram or the pentagonal puzzle of U.S. Pat. No. 4,343,471. These geometrical tile sets of the puzzles comprise a number of different tiles.
The tile sets which cover the plane are generally limited with respect to the possible structures. Thus tilings from square or hexagonal tiles are only represented in a single periodic structure.
For puzzles but also for tilings or tessellations such as parquet or inlay structures tile sets would be of interest which allow a variety of different structures or patterns in periodic or non-periodical way, but are composed of only one or a very limited number of different types of tiles.